Putin Addresses Realities of Ukraine Situation

March 22, 2014AFP

In early March, when violent protestsforced the collapse of the government inUkraine, Russian President Vladimir Putinheld a press conference to clarify and explain Russia’s position onthe constitutional crisis. The following is apartial transcription of Putin’s lengthy statement at the time, which was translatedand posted online at the Kremlin’s official website.

My assessment of what happenedin Kiev and in Ukraine in general[is that this] was an anti-constitutionaltakeover, an armed seizure of power. Does anyonequestion this? Nobody does.There is a question here that neither I, nor my colleagueswith whom I have been discussing the situation in Ukraine, can answer. The question is, whywas this done?

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that [Ukrainian] President [Viktor] Yanukovych,through the mediation of the foreign ministers of three European countries—Poland, Germany andFrance—and in the presence of my representative[Russian Human Rights Commissioner VladimirLukin] signed an agreement with the opposition onFebruary 21.

I would like to stress that under that agreement—I am not saying this was good or bad, juststating the fact—Yanukovych actually handed over power. He agreed to all the opposition’s demands.He agreed to early parliamentary elections, to earlypresidential elections and to return to the 2004 Constitution as demanded by the opposition.

His response was positive to our request and tothe request of western countries that he not useforce against the opposition. He did not issue a single illegal order to shoot at the demonstrators.Moreover, he issued orders to withdraw all policeforces from the capitol, and they complied.

He went to [the second largest city in Ukraine] Kharkov to attend an event, and as soon as he left,instead of releasing the occupied administrative buildings, [protesters] immediately occupied thepresident’s residence and the government building—all that instead of acting on the agreement.

I ask myself, what was the purpose of this? I want to understand why this was done.

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[Yanukovych] had in fact given up his power already,and as I believe I told him, he had no chanceof being re-elected. What was the purpose of all those illegal, unconstitutional actions? Why didthey have to create this chaos in the country?Armed and masked militants are still roaming the streets of Kiev.

This is a question to which there is no answer.The result is the absolute opposite of what they expected,because their actions have significantly destabilized the east and southeast of Ukraine.

Now over to how this situation came about.

In my opinion, this revolutionary situation hasbeen brewing for a long time since the first days ofUkraine’s independence. The ordinary Ukrainian citizen—the ordinary guy—has suffered for manyyears. Almost nothing has changed for the better.Corruption has reached dimensions that are unheard of in Russia. Accumulation of wealth and socialstratification—problems that are also acute inRussia—are much worse in Ukraine. Out there,they are beyond anything we can imagine. Generally,people wanted change, but one should not supportillegal change.

Only constitutional means should be used on thepost-Soviet space, where political structures arestill very fragile and economies are still weak. Going beyond the constitutional field would alwaysbe a cardinal mistake in such a situation.

Incidentally, I understand those people at [theprotest group] Maidan, though I do not support thiskind of turnover. I understand the people who arecalling for radical change rather than some cosmeticremodeling of power. Why are they demandingthis? Because they have grown used to seeing one set of thieves being replaced by another.

The people in the region do not even participatein forming their own regional governments. Therewas a period in Russia when the president appointed regional leaders, but then the local legislative authorities had to approve them. In Ukrainethey are appointed directly. And they began appointing all sorts of oligarchs and billionaires togovern the eastern regions of the country. No wonder the people do not accept this. No wonder theythink that as a result of dishonest privatization—just as many people think in Russia as well—peoplehave become rich and now they also have beenbrought to power.

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For example, [Ukraine’s third richest man] IhorKolomoisky was appointed governor of [Ukraine’sfourth largest city] Dnepropetrovsk. Kolomoisky isa unique crook. He even managed to cheat Russia’soligarch, Roman Abramovich, two or three yearsago—scammed him, as our intellectuals like to say.They signed some deal, Abramovich transferredseveral billion dollars, while this guy never delivered and pocketed the money.

When I asked [Abramovich], why did you do it,[Abramovich] said: “I never thought this was possible.”I do not know, by the way, if he ever got his money back and if the deal was closed. And nowthis crook is appointed governor of Dnepropetrovsk.No wonder the people are dissatisfied. They were dissatisfied and will remain so if those whorefer to themselves as the legitimate authoritiescontinue in the same fashion.

People should have the right to determine theirown future, that of their families and of their region,and to have equal participation in it. I would like to stress this: Wherever a person lives, whateverpart of the country, he or she should have theright to equal participation in determining the future of the country.

Now about financial aid to Crimea: As you mayknow, we have decided to organize work in theRussian regions to aid Crimea, which has turned to us for humanitarian support. We will provide it, ofcourse. I cannot say how much, when or how—thegovernment is working on this, by bringing together the regions bordering on Crimea, by providingadditional support to our regions so they could help the people in Crimea.

Regarding the deployment of troops—the use ofarmed forces—so far, there is no need for it, but thepossibility remains. I would like to say here that the military exercises we recently held had nothing todo with events in Ukraine. This was pre-planned,but we did not disclose these plans, naturally, because this was a snap inspection of the forces’ combatreadiness. The exercises are over, and I gave the order for the troops to return to their regularlocations.

What is our biggest concern? We see rampagingreactionary forces, nationalist and anti-Semiticforces going on in certain parts of Ukraine, including Kiev.

I am sure you, members of the media, saw howone of the governors was chained and handcuffedto something and they poured water over him in the cold of winter. After that, by the way, he waslocked up in a cellar and tortured. What is all thisabout? Is this democracy? Is this some manifestation of democracy? He was actually only recentlyappointed to this position in December, I believe. Even if we accept that they are all corrupt there, hehad barely time to steal anything.

And do you know what happened when theyseized the Party of Regions building? There wereno party members there at all at the time. Two or three employees came out—one was an engineer—and he said to the attackers: “Could you let us go,and let the women out, please? I’m an engineer, I have nothing to do with politics.”

He was shot right there in front of the crowd. Anotheremployee was led to a cellar and then theythrew Molotov cocktails at him and burned him alive. Is this also a manifestation of democracy?

When we see this we understand what worriesthe citizens of Ukraine, both Russian and Ukrainian,and the Russian-speaking population in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. It is thisuncontrolled crime that worries them.

Therefore, if we see such uncontrolled crimespreading to the eastern regions of the country, andif the people ask us for help, while we already have the official request from the legitimate president,we retain the right to use all available means to protectthose people. We believe this would be absolutelylegitimate. This is our last resort.

We are often told [by those in the West] that ouractions are illegitimate. But when I ask, do youthink everything you do is legitimate, they say: “Yes.” Then I have to recall the actions of theUnited States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, wherethey either acted without any UN sanctions or completely distorted the content of such resolutions, aswas the case with Libya. There, as you may know, the resolution only spoke of closing the airspacefor government aircraft, while it all ended withbomb attacks and special forces land operations.

Our partners, especially in the United Sates, alwaysclearly formulate their own geopolitical interestsand follow them with persistence. Then, using the principle “You’re either with us or againstus” they draw the whole world in. And those whodo not join in get beaten until they do.

Our approach is different. We proceed from the conviction that we always act legitimately. I havepersonally always been an advocate of acting in compliance with international law. I would like tostress yet again that if I do decide to use the armedforces, this will be a legitimate decision in full compliancewith both general norms of internationallaw, since we have the appeal of the legitimate president,and with our commitments, which in thiscase coincide with our interests to protect the peoplewith whom we have close historical, culturaland economic ties.

Protecting these people is in our national interests.This is a humanitarian mission. We do not intendto subjugate anyone or to dictate to anyone. However, we cannot remain indifferent if we seethat [people] are being persecuted, destroyed andhumiliated. However, I sincerely hope it never gets to that.